Media Release

TURNER COMMISSIONS LARGE-SCALE STUDY OF AUSTRALIAN KIDS’ VIEWING BEHAVIOUR

- ‘New Generations’ report reveals favourite influencer channels, most popular platforms and device usage; social media trends and ad effectiveness -

SYDNEY - Turner Australia has unveiled the findings of its latest New Generations report at events in Melbourne and Sydney this week, lifting the lid on what makes our youngsters tick. The report looks at a variety of aspects facing children aged 4-14 including screen time, content preferences and how they find out about the latest products.

“Understanding the minds of the next generation of content consumers is never an easy task. The kids we spoke to are true digital natives who play by very different rules to us and this report has really thrown up some interesting data,” said David Webb, Turner’s Senior Director of Data & Insights for Asia Pacific.

What Are Our Kids Watching?

Despite the rise of short-form video platforms, TV remains the largest medium in terms of monthly usage for kids, according to Turner’s New Generations report.

On average, kids are consuming more than two and a half hours of television and movies across all devices and platforms on a typical day, and spend a further 75 minutes on short-form video platforms. Cartoons remain the favourite type of TV content watched by kids, followed by movies and live-action kids shows.

“Never before have children had so many content and platform choices – but TV is still the major player for youngsters, and it’s also clear that they still love animation,” added Mr Webb.

Penetration of newer technology has increased amongst households with kids, with streaming devices (+124%), smartwatches (+69%) and VR devices (+60%) having all seen large uplifts in ownership since the last survey in 2016. And while almost all households surveyed now have a smartphone, child access to computing devices remains higher for tablets and computers.

What Are Our Kids Doing Online?

Short-form video viewing was the most common online activity for kids on websites and apps (73%).

Despite high platform consumption, usage of individual on-line video channels remains highly fragmentated, and of the myriad of YouTube channels available, Dan TDM, Ryan’s Toys Reviews, Minecraft, Jake Paul and Hobby Kids TV were listed as the top five.

Online games overtook school/homework in this year’s survey in terms of key online activities. Minecraft remained the top favourite game for both boys and girls, although recent sensation, Fortnite, was the second-highest favourite title for boys.

Social media usage remains much lower for kids, especially those aged 12 and under, with only a quarter (27%) using any platform in the last month. Instagram has overtaken Facebook for the first time in the New Generations history, with nearly half of the kids using Instagram of which 87% have their own account.

Turner AdLab

As part of the research Turner also developed AdLab, in order to determine the effectiveness of advertising to kids. The study researched key effectiveness metrics such as ad likeability, brand recall and purchase intent within TV, short-form video platforms and website environments.

The research revealed that TV ads outperformed YouTube ads for key ad metrics when comparing the same creative, with results showing 43% higher spontaneous awareness, 21% higher brand recall, 7% higher ad likeability and a 13% change in purchase intent.

“What we saw was that purchase intent increased when an ad was shown on TV only, compared to YouTube only, but further increased when seen on both TV and You Tube. This information could provide brands with better information to plan their campaigns.” said Mr Webb.

In the website test, premium digital formats such as OTP (Over the Page) ads, pre-roll videos and game takeover ad units were more impactful, achieving double the recall of standard digital ads.

Content environments also played a key role in driving effectiveness with ads performing better on all key metrics when kids liked the surrounding content. The research also showed that ads appearing within content for the same brand achieved higher recall (+35%) and purchase intent (+25%).

Turner Australia is the company behind brands such as Cartoon Network and Boomerang, and YouTube platform Mega Awesome Wow.

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About Turner’s New Generations Report 2018

New Generations is Turner’s pioneering kids’ survey to better understand Australian kids’ lifestyle – their values, aspirations, media habits, consumption, pocket money, opinions, preferences and parental influence. Celebrating its 13th edition in Australia, the long-established and respected research has interviewed over 20,000 child-and-parent pairs since its inception.

About Cartoon Network

Turner’s Cartoon Network, the number one kids’ channel in Asia Pacific, offers the best in original animated content including the multi-award-winning global hits Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, Adventure Time and We Bare Bears.

Cartoon Network is available in 29 countries throughout Asia Pacific and is currently seen in more than 135 million pay-TV homes. Internationally, it is seen in 192 countries and over 400 million homes, and is an industry leader with a global offering of the best in award-winning animated entertainment for kids and families.

The brand is known for putting its fans at the centre of everything by applying creative thinking and innovation across multiple platforms. Cartoon Network also reaches millions more through its websites, games and apps, including Cartoon Network Watch and Play. Cartoon Network, sister brand to Boomerang and POGO, is created and distributed by Turner, a WarnerMedia company.

About Turner Asia Pacific

Turner is a global entertainment, sports and news company that creates premium content, and delivers exceptional experiences to fans whenever and wherever they consume content. In Asia Pacific, Turner owns and operates award-winning brands throughout the region, running 58 channels in 14 languages in 42 countries. These include CNN International, CNNj, CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, POGO, Warner TV, Oh!K, TCM Turner Classic Movies, truTV, MondoTV, TABI Channel, Tabi Tele, Mondo Mah-Jong TV; and HBO, HBO HD and WB in South Asia. Turner manages the business of Pay- and Free-TV-channels, as well as Internet-based services. It owns and exploits properties such as Tuzki, and oversees commercial partnerships with various third-party media ventures. Turner teams with Warner Bros. and HBO to leverage WarnerMedia’s global reach. Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. (“Turner Asia Pacific”) is a WarnerMedia company.

Publicity Contact

James Moore / Corporate Communications Director, Turner Asia Pacific

james.moore@turner.com / +65 9660 6108